I use the Shamanic term to explain the process of going back and “retrieving” those parts of your soul that have split off and been “left behind” at times of trauma.
Parts of our soul can split off at any time from birth onwards. Typical situations would be a young child abused by a parent or family member; a teenager whose heart is broken; a parent who experiences a stillbirth or whose child dies unexpectedly; and someone who loses a loved one through death or divorce: there are many more but as you can see, most people nowadays will have gone through at least one of these situations if not more.
The process starts with me putting the client into a deep state of relaxation with hypnotherapy. I then talk direct with the client’s unconscious (we might also call it the inner self or higher self), and ask it to indicate the different ages at which there are situations to be addressed. Armed with this list, we start the journey. At each stop, we look for and find the “splintered-off” or “left behind” part of the client. It may be a frightened little boy who was bullied at school, too scared to tell his parents what was going on. He will probably still be scared, confused, shy… Or a teenage girl who was forced to have an abortion: she may be sad, feeling a sense of loss, angry … A young adult whose mother or father died suddenly before there was a chance to say those last goodbyes: he or she could well be feeling cheated, frustrated, angry, confused ….
Each of those lost parts need to be re-integrated into the client. This is not always easy, and can often be emotional. Sometimes the lost parts are defiant: “you’ve forgotten all about me”; “why should I trust you now?”; “I hate you …”
But eventually, with love and warmth and compassion, they can be embraced back into the heart where they belong.
The process of leaving behind, letting go of, those emotions that are no longer needed, of cutting the links to any emotional “tug” those fragments may still have had to the adult, is very cathartic.
These sessions can be very emotional, and I encourage that release. It is my firm belief that no real emotional healing can take place unless and until the individual is “whole”, and this process is one of the most powerful in allowing that to happen.
If you would like to know more, give me a call on 01444 459 433 or 07597 020 512 or email me on: judy@effective-hypnotherapy.co.uk. I’m always happy to chat, totally free and totally confidential.
I work from Vinings Natural Health Centre, Haywards Heath, West Sussex.